Fuel Cell Powered Truck

This fuel cell–powered truck looks amazingly like a Kenworth, but it isn’t. It’s a Toyota test truck running in California as part of the campaign by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to minimise emissions in their area.

Toyota revealed ‘Project Portal’, a hydrogen fuel cell system designed for heavy-duty truck use at the Port of Los Angeles. The zero-emission truck proof of concept will take part in a feasibility study examining the potential of fuel-cell technology in heavy-duty applications.

“As they did with the Prius and the Mirai, Toyota is taking a leap into the future of technology,” said Mary D. Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board (CARB). “By bringing this heavy-duty, zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell proof of concept truck to the Port, Toyota has planted a flag that we hope many others will follow.

CARB will be following the progress of this feasibility study with interest, as we look to develop the best mix of regulations and incentives to rapidly expand the market for the cleanest, most efficient big trucks to meet the need for dramatic change in the freight sector.”

Project Portal is a fully functioning heavy duty truck with the power and torque capacity to conduct port drayage operations while emitting nothing but water vapour. Heavy duty vehicles make up a significant percentage of the annual emissions output at the Port of Los Angeles, and the Portal feasibility study may provide another path to further reduce emissions.

“Toyota believes that hydrogen fuel cell technology has tremendous potential to become the powertrain of the future,” said Toyota Executive Vice President, Bob Carter. “From creating one of the world’s first mass market fuel cell vehicles, to introducing fuel cell buses in Japan, Toyota is a leader in expanding the use of versatile and scalable zero-emission technology.”

The Project Portal platform is designed to provide the target performance required to support port drayage operations. The truck generates more than 670 hp and 1800 Nm of torque from two Mirai fuel cell stacks and a 12 kWh battery, a relatively small battery to support semi load operations. The concept’s gross combined weight capacity is 38 tonnes., and its estimated driving range is more than 320 km per fill, under normal port operation.

To see the power of this truck watch the first 20 seconds of this video:

“The Port of Los Angeles is excited to collaborate with Toyota to explore the feasibility of fuel cell technology for port drayage operations,” said Tony Gioiello, Deputy Executive Director of Port Development, Port of Los Angeles. “Our port and industry stakeholders have demonstrated their leadership in reducing pollution from port-related operations, and we see the potential of Toyota’s zero-emission heavy-duty truck technology as another solution to meet the long-term goals of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan.”